Brits seeking advice for USA trip

In article ,
Sjoerd wrote:

I like San Francisco, but the city proper (those areas easily accessible by
public transport) doesn't have an abundance of tourist attractions.

I suppose it depends on what you define as a tourist attraction. San
Francisco gets umpteen zillion visitors a year, and most seem to find
plenty of things to do.

As I said before, the only city in the US where I would be happy to stay for
a "couple of weeks" without a car is New York. I have never been to Chicago
or Boston, that others have recommended, but I doubt those cities have as
much to see and do for a tourist as NYC.

As another poster said, you don't seem to know what you're talking about.
What we lack in NYC's postcard landmarks is more than made up for by ease
of access, relatively laid-back pace, abundant greenery and general user
friendliness. I've been staying busy here for 13 years. Anybody with a
bit of imagination and resourcefulness isn't going to get bored in a mere
two weeks.

--
---
"Wake Up, Everybody."--McFadden/Whitehead/Carstarphen
RIP John Whitehead 1948-2004

"eric h" schreef in bericht
...
In article ,
Sjoerd wrote:

I like San Francisco, but the city proper (those areas easily accessible
by
public transport) doesn't have an abundance of tourist attractions.

I suppose it depends on what you define as a tourist attraction. San
Francisco gets umpteen zillion visitors a year, and most seem to find
plenty of things to do.

How many are exclusively staying in the downtown area (areas walkable or
easily accessible by public transport) for more than 2 or 3 days without
getting out of that area?


As I said before, the only city in the US where I would be happy to stay
for
a "couple of weeks" without a car is New York. I have never been to
Chicago
or Boston, that others have recommended, but I doubt those cities have as
much to see and do for a tourist as NYC.

As another poster said, you don't seem to know what you're talking about.
What we lack in NYC's postcard landmarks is more than made up for by ease
of access, relatively laid-back pace, abundant greenery and general user
friendliness. I've been staying busy here for 13 years. Anybody with a
bit of imagination and resourcefulness isn't going to get bored in a mere
two weeks.

I don't know where you are, but there is an enormous difference between
*living* somewhere and staying somewhere *as a tourist*. I lived in the city
of Groningen for 9 years and wasn't bored for a single minute. However, for
a tourist I would say there is enough to see and do for one day there - not
more.

How many of you experts on this forum have actually stayed as a tourist
(foreign tourist in the OP's case, so unlikely to have friends in the cities
he will be visiting) without a car, in the cities mentioned?
I have stayed as a foreign tourist *without a car* in the following US
cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver, Washington
DC, New York City, New Orleans.

I hated Los Angeles, I hated Atlanta
Denver was nice for one day, New Orleans was nice for one day, Las Vegas was
nice for one day (I don't gamble)
San Francisco was nice for two days ( I later came back, rented a car, and
had a wonderful *week* in and around SF), Washington DC was nice for two
days
New York City was nice for a week, and I could have stayed longer.

Sjoerd

On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 18:04:51 +0200, B wrote:

[following up to myself]

I spent a week in Honolulu teaching a course at the U. of Hawaii. I
could have had free housing at the University, but I had my two kids
along, so I rented an apartment in Waikiki. I had never had much
desire to see Hawaii as I am not a beach lover, but it was a lot more
interesting than I expected. And the weather was perfect.

I meant to say I spent a month there teaching a course.
--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

People may laugh, but consider Philadelphia if you aren't opposed to
the east coast. An excellent public transportation system within the
city and it's environs (you can get to many day trip areas on the
regional rail system), frequent (and cheap) public bus transfers to
the New Jersey coast (with some very nice beaches), and lots of good
nightlife and restaurants in the city itself. Philadephia actually has
one of the biggest public transportation networks in the USA,
comprising subways, regional rail lines, extensive bus service,
trolleys, etc.

"Matt Robinson" wrote in message
news:xPMzc.95$J4.0@newsfe5-win...
Hi, I'm a 23 year old from London looking to go to L.A. for a couple of
weeks this summer with my best friend. We were thinking about grabbing a
cheap hotel around town, taking in the sun, the sites, heading to the
beaches, and enjoying a little bit of the night life.
However as much as I'm looking forward to it, the more I've started
researching, the more I'm starting to wonder if this is all such a good
idea
as neither of us drive and therefore don't plan on hiring a car - and it
sounds like in the US there is much more of an emphasis on driving than
public transport? In London you can live quite easily with just using
buses,
trains and the subway, but I'm wondering if that's possible (and safe) in
LA. So any tips or advice along those lines would very helpful, including
suggestions for places to stay around town that could cut down our travel
issues, while still being in nice parts of town.
Additionally, how feasible in that part of the country is it to take
the
odd day excursion out of the city by train or coach and explore some of
the
quieter surrounding areas (providing there's stuff worth seeing)? For
instance just grabbing a train down the coast for a change of scenary,
that
sort of thing?
Any advice, tips, places to stay and most importantly places to
definitely avoid would be really useful.

--

"Brian Wasson" wrote...
People may laugh, but consider Philadelphia...

LOL. could not resist

"eric h" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Sjoerd wrote:

I like San Francisco, but the city proper (those areas easily accessible
by
public transport) doesn't have an abundance of tourist attractions.

I suppose it depends on what you define as a tourist attraction. San
Francisco gets umpteen zillion visitors a year, and most seem to find
plenty of things to do.

Sjoerd seems to have a short attention span.

For the OP, there is one thing San Francisco is not in the summer: sunny and
hot. Between the fog and the wind, it doesn't even get that warm. A local
sport is watching the freezing tourists in shorts and sundresses, who
thought they were coming to sunny California. So, if you're looking for a
beach town, San Francisco isn't it.

Marianne

"mimi" wrote in message news:
Sjoerd wrote:

I like San Francisco, but [it] doesn't have an abundance of tourist
attractions.

Sjoerd seems to have a short attention span.

For the OP, there is one thing San Francisco is not in the summer: sunny and
hot . . . A local sport is watching the freezing tourists in shorts and
sundresses . . . if you're looking for a beach town, San Francisco isn't it.

An excerpt from the "Don't-Miss Sights in San Francisco" page at the
site at Right in the sig:

San Francisco has about nine CLIMATEs.
Seacliff, where idle rich live, has the worst; Dogpatch, where the
working poor live, has the best. Visitors are advised to NEVER go out
without carrying a sweater or jacket. Those you see covered in goose
pimples shivering in their shorts are those at whom we laugh not for
their discomfort but at their arrogance rejecting the advice we know
they, and you, received.

Following that paragraph is a chart of monthly highs and lows.
__________________________________________________ __________
A San Franciscan in (where else?) San Francisco
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 IClast at SFbay Net
__________________________________________________ _________________
NEW PAGE: Remembering Ronald Reagan: Let Us Remember Lest We Forget
http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/rReagan.html#t

You want a great beach and wonderful town where you can get around
without a car - and fantastic nightlife for yourg20's guys? No need
for public transportation? All within a few minutes walk?

I'm going to give a shock to many people when I say - Chicago! It is
the USA's great secret summer tourist destination. July and August
have great weather.

Stay at a hotel as close to the Oak Street Beach as possible. There
are choices in all price classes in the area known as Upper Michigan
Boulevard or the Gold Coast. The smaller, less expensive places are in
side streets.

The Oak Street Beach is small but excellent - a gem. It attracts some
of the region's more attractive people. The Chicago lakefront is 26
miles long and mostly parks and marinas. The water is fresh (not
salt) and clean. The city drinks it and the lake offers excellent
fishing either from the shore or on a boat..

If you stay in the Upper Michgan neighborhood you will be surrounded
by a great, vibrant neighborhood filled with world class shopping and
expensive apartments. You will find many dozens of restaurants and
simple "eateries" in all price ranges and all types of ethnic foods.
At night, for some of best singles bars, walk two or three bloocks to
the area of Rush Street and Chicago Avenue. There are too many to
cover in a week of trying.

Of course, the "wheel" at Navy Pier is nowhere as big as the one in
London, but there's still plenty of things to see and do. Chicago is
considered the birthplace of the modern American stage. You could walk
or taxi to the original Second City Theater, home of improvisational
theater.

If it rains, which is not a big risk at that time of year, Chicago has
some of the world's best museums within a short walk or a reasonable
taxi ride.

Those who laugh at my suggestion have no idea what I'm talking about -
but anyone who has spent any time there will know I am giving away a
big secret.




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In article m,
wrote:

I'm going to give a shock to many people when I say - Chicago! It is
the USA's great secret summer tourist destination. July and August
have great weather.

Those would be the months for beach weather. June's been a little on the
cool side, so our beach days have been few so far, but it'll be heating up
soon enough.

Stay at a hotel as close to the Oak Street Beach as possible. There
are choices in all price classes in the area known as Upper Michigan
Boulevard or the Gold Coast. The smaller, less expensive places are in
side streets.

Actually, we usually call it "North Michigan Avenue." Oak St. Beech is
nice enough, but North Avenue Beach is somewhat bigger, with a brand new
beachhouse that has a restaurant, showers, etc., even bike rentals.
Either beach is easily reached by the 151 bus, and North Ave. beach is a
pleasant 3/4 mile walk from Oak St. Beach.

Those who laugh at my suggestion have no idea what I'm talking about -
but anyone who has spent any time there will know I am giving away a
big secret.

That's OK...there's plenty of room for more visitors.

At risk of overstating our status as the Copacabana of the rust belt, I
should caution that our summer weather, like our winter weather, is
variable. Not that I don't love summer trips to the beach here (and
summer here in general...as a matter of fact, I'm just back from the Taste
of Chicago festival in Grant Park, by the downtown lake shore, where I
enjoyed two great concerts under the sunshine for nothing more than the
cost of my transport--extra for food, of course) but it can get hot here,
sometimes very hot and humid, and while it's almost never too hot for the
beach, it can get hot enough to make you walk pretty slow. And yes, it
can rain, too. But in the summer, it doesn't rain that often, and when
it does, it doesn't usually rain all day.

So if the beach is all you want, go to Hawaii or California. But if you
want all the fun of a great city with a beach thrown in for good measure,
come to Chicago and find out why the locals stay home for summer vacation.

--
---
"Wake Up, Everybody."--McFadden/Whitehead/Carstarphen
RIP John Whitehead 1948-2004